Dear MCH Leaders,

I hope you, your family, and your communities are well and prospering as we continue to tackle our nation's "new normal" of public health precautions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID-19 has changed the way we do business, interact with each other, engage with our family and friends, I remain awestruck by the ingenuity of each of you and your work on behalf of the people we serve. In the midst of it all, however, I am thankful for so many things, including being reminded of the things that are truly important in life and being surrounded by people like you whose tireless efforts and professionalism will help us all to come out on the other end of this situation much stronger.

My thoughts are with those who have been more acutely impacted by this virus and those frontline healthcare professionals who continue to keep us all safe. A heartfelt thank you for what you're doing every day in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the new CEO, I am committed to working alongside you (our members) and those in the maternal and child health space to continue to protect and promote optimal maternal and child health while lifting up social determinants of health and addressing systemic and structural health equity issues during this critical period and beyond.

AMCHP will continue to support our members as you seek guidance and peer exchange opportunities surrounding: 1) resources and guidance specific to our MCH population, 2) self-care suggestions for caregivers and families who may feel isolated due to social distancing requirements, 3) potential impact to grant deliverables and 4) Title V reporting implications. We will continue to support membership in the following ways:

• Link to Resources - We've been working alongside our federal agency and organizational partners to gather available information, resources, and guidance specific to our MCH population during the COVID-19 pandemic. These resources will continue to be available on our COVID-19 Resources page and our Vaccinating MCH Populations page and will be updated regularly as untapped information becomes available.

• COVID-19 Town Hall Series - We (and our federal agency partners) are very interested in talking with you to share information to assist in your planning around COVID-19, as well as to hear about your evolving needs and/or stories from the field. We continue to hold a monthly call for this purpose, which occurs the first Thursday of every month and runs from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST. In addition to COVID-19 news, this is where our Government Affairs staff share a brief maternal and child health federal policy update. Please use this link to register for upcoming calls if you haven't already.

• AMCHP 2022 Annual Conference - Our annual conference will be held March 5-8, 2022 at the Renaissance Washington DC Hotel, in Washington, DC. The theme for the 2022 conference is Reflecting on our Past, Shaping our Future. At this time, AMCHP will be offering content in-person and through our virtual conference platform to accommodate participants who attend on-site or attend virtually. We invite you to join us for an excellent opportunity for networking, peer support and encouragement, and inspiration from the MCH field.

Sincerely,

Terrance E. Moore, MA

Chief Executive Officer

Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs

Center for Disease Control and Prevention Resources

General Information

• About Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  
• Answering 20 Questions about COVID-19 - videos and recordings from Facebook live sessions featuring Dr. Jay Butler
  
• Are You at Higher Risk for Severe Illness?
• Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity Facebook page
  
• Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication Training
• COCA RSS Feed
• Emergency Preparedness and Response Facebook page
• Health Alert Network
• Communication Resources
• Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary
• Information for Healthcare Professionals
• Inpatient Obstetric Healthcare Settings, Information for Pediatric Healthcare Providers
• Interim Clinical Guidance
  
• Interim Guidance for Immunization Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic
  
• People at Higher Risk and Special Populations – Includes pregnant women and children, and people experiencing homelessness
• Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities
• Protect Yourself and Your Family
• Resources for Home, Schools & Childcare
• Resources for State, Local, Territorial and Tribal Health Departments
• Wash Your Hands Poster

Children

• FAQs: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) and Children
• Guidance for School Settings. Compiled by the CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD).

Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

• Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) call on Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Additional Resources

Bereavement Resources from the American Hospice Foundation

• Grieving children
  
• Grief at work
• Working through grief
• Books for Children on Dealing with Death – MCH Library Collection from the SUID/SIDS Gateway
  

Community Resources

• COVID-19 Fact Sheets for Tribes and Urban Indian Communities. Published by UIHI.
• Rural Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Compiled by the Rural Health Information Hub.  

Mother, Children and Family Resources

Mental Health Resources:

• CDC page on managing stress/anxiety for children and parents
  
• National Alliance on Mental Illness: COVID-19 Resource and Information Guide 
  
• National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors COVID-19 resources 
  
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration COVID- 19 resources
  
• Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health: Tips for Social Distancing, Quarantine, and Isolation During an Infectious Disease Outbreak. HHS Substance Abuse and (SAMHSA).
• The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: A rapid review of the evidence

Relevant Papers / Research on MCH populations and respiratory illnesses:

• Li Y, Zhao R, Zheng S, Chen X, Wang J, Sheng X, et al. Lack of vertical transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, China. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Apr. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2606.200287

• McMichael, T. M. (2020). COVID-19 in a long-term care facility—King County, Washington, February 27–March 9, 2020. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6912e1.htm

• Zhu H, Wang L, Fang C, Peng S, Zhang L, Chang G, Xia S, Zhou W. Clinical analysis of 10 neonates born to mothers with 2019-nCoV pneumonia. Transl Pediatr 2020;9(1):51-60. https://doi.org/10.21037/tp.2020.02.06

Resources in Additional Languages:

• CDC COVID-19 guidelines en Espanol
• Enfermedad del Coronavirus 2019 (COVID‑19). Spanish-language version of the CDC's Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) webpage. The page is also available in Chinese.

Racial Equity Resources for COVID-19 (Focus on Women’s and Infant Health)

Guides and Action

• NAACP: Ten Equity Implications of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Outbreak in the United States
• Senator Warren Letter to HHS Regarding Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Response
• PolicyLink COVID-19 & Race: Actions 
• Black Women’s Health Imperative: Surviving COVID 19 

Key Commentaries

• March 19, 2020: Joia Crear-Perry: Black Mamas Can Thrive During Childbirth, COVID-19 Or Not 
• March 22, 2020: Nidhi Prakash, Doctors Are Concerned That Black Communities Might Not Be Getting Access To Coronavirus Tests.  
• March 25, 2020: Talking about health, housing, and COVID-19: keeping equity at the forefront 
• March 27, 2020, Kimberly Seals Allers, “Covid-19 Restrictions on Birth & Breastfeeding: Disproportionately Harming Black and Native Women”  
• March 30, 2020, Kirsten West Savali: Where's The Data? We Need To Know How Many Black People Are Dying From COVID-19. Essence
• March 30, 2020: Julia Craven: “How Racial Health Disparities Will Play Out in the Pandemic."
• The Fierce Urgency of Now: Closing Glaring Gaps in US Surveillance Data on COVID-19 
• The Harm of a Colorblind Allocation Of Scarce Resources 

Undocumented Communities

• List of COVID-19 Resources, Betancourt-Macias Family Scholarship Foundation

Webinars and Podcasts

• ESSENCE of the Matter: COVID-19's Impact on Black America
• Black Maternal Health and the U.S. COVID-19 Response
• Truth Be Told, Rona, and Racism: A Survival Guide. Podcast  
• The Brookings Institution: How the coronavirus pandemic is impacting low-income and vulnerable communities. 
• “Unmasked: A COVID-19 Virtual Town Hall Series Powered by NAACP & BET: Health, Economic and Social Impact of Pandemic on African American Community

Self-Care Resources

• COVID-19 Resources and Articles for Family Caregivers
• NAMI COVID-19 Resource and Information Guide
  
• Physical Activity Alliance: Comprehensive list of free resources to stay active

States: Cases, Deaths, Actions and Policy Responses 

• ASTHO COVID-19 Resources
  
• CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation Tool Provides State-Level Data on Cases and Deaths and State Policy Actions 
• Multistate: COVID-19 Policy Tracker

Telehealth resources 

This set of four dynamic Telehealth Fact Sheets developed by AMCHP’s State Public Health Autism Resource Center (SPHARC) serve as a resource to provide need-to-know information, tips, and guidance to those who seek to implement telehealth programs in their states. These resources are great initial tools for local and state providers serving a wide MCH population interested in improving service access and reducing logistical barriers that prevent their patients from receiving necessary and comprehensive care. The fact sheets cover the following four main objectives: 

• How to Start a Telehealth Program: Thinking about starting a telehealth program? This resource will help guide important questions to consider, highlight example solutions, and other important need to know details. 
• Selecting a Telehealth Provider: This fact sheet highlights guidelines, examples, and key considerations for providers to consider as they work together with parents & caregivers to select the best telehealth provider for their situation. 
• Selecting Telehealth Technology: This fact sheet provides 10 tips to consider when attempting to acquire the most appropriate, up to date telehealth technologies. 
• Telehealth Policy Issues: The process to developing telehealth program can be complex. Make sure to remember these 7 federal and state telehealth policy issues that go beyond reimbursement. 
  
  
• Coronavirus & Telehealth: The New Federal Law & the Policy Hurdles that Remain 
• COVID-19 Checklists & tools to accelerate relief for state Medicaid & CHIP Programs 
• COVID-19 Related State Actions (updated regularly)
• COVID-19 Telehealth Coverage Policies
• Hawaii State Department of Health Genomics Section: Telehealth Best Practices 

• Hawaii State Department of Health Genomics Section: What to Expect From a Telehealth Visit 

• Medicare Telemedicine Health Care Provider Fact Sheet
• National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers - COVID-19 Telehealth Toolkit

• National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers -Telehealth & COVID-19 webinar 

• Opportunities To Expand Telehealth Use Amid The Coronavirus Pandemic 
  

• Telehealth Coverage Policies in the Time of COVID-19  (updated regularly) 
  
• Telehealth Service Expansion Related to COVID-19

Webinars 

• CYSHCN Archived Series: Care Coordination- Children with Complex Health Care Needs
• Early Childhood Development Action Network- COVID-19 and ECD